Chapter VIII: Part 8

For the time being the operating forces of the telephone company all over the country were placed at the disposal of Captain W. H. G. Bullard, Chief of the Bureau of Communications, and General Superintendent of Plant F. A. Stevenson, of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, was assigned as his aide. While all the facilities of the Bell System were available, only about 53,000 miles of wire were necessary to connect all the navy yards and stations for telephonic and telegraphic communication.

The successful demonstration showed that in case of any trouble requiring any such service, because of the central control of the Bell System, the government could have ready-made at its immediate disposal a plant, equipment and operating staff which, for completeness and efficiency, would not be possible in any other way.

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Why do They Call Them “Fiddler-Crabs”?

There is one member of the crab family for which the Latin name is _Gelasimus_, which means “laughable.” He certainly is appropriately named, for he is a very queer little fellow. The male has one claw of immense size, the other being quite small. The big claw is brightly colored, and when he runs he waves it about as if he were energetically beckoning, or playing some very stirring tune on a violin; hence he is often known as a “Calling-crab” or a “Fiddler-crab.”

Fiddler-crabs inhabit various parts of the world, and are usually found in large numbers on muddy or sandy flats left dry by the tide, where they may be seen hurrying over the sand or peering out of their holes, into which they immediately vanish when alarmed. The holes, which usually are about a foot deep, are made by the crab persistently digging up and carrying away little masses of mud or sand. When he is doing this the crab presents a very funny appearance. Scraping up a quantity of sand into a little heap, he grasps it with three of the legs on one side and hurries away with it to some little distance. Having deposited his load, he raises his eyes, which he can do quite effectively, as they are situated at the end of very long, slender stalks, peers curiously around, and scuttles back to the hole for another load of sand.

How Far can a Powerful Searchlight Send Its Rays?

Searchlights have recently been made capable of being seen nearly a hundred miles away. Such lights are very valuable for signaling purposes in time of war, and they are also much used on warships, enabling the officers to detect the approach of an enemy in the dark and to guard against torpedo boats.

_Photo by Brown Bros._

The giant scintillator erected on the shore of the bay was not the least wonderful of all the wonderful sights of the Panama-Pacific Exposition at San Francisco.]

We are all familiar with the less powerful ones which are universally used on automobiles for night driving and in a multitude of other every-day practices. The illustration shows a battery of powerful searchlights, the use of which furnished some very effective displays during the Panama-Pacific Exposition at San Francisco in 1915.

Searchlights are ordinarily electric arc lights of great candle-power, arranged with a parabolic reflector so that the rays are sent almost wholly in one direct line, forming a path of light which may be projected for miles.

What Started the Habit of Touching Glasses Before Drinking?

Just as athletes shake hands before the beginning of a contest today, the people who fought duels in the olden days used to pause before their fighting long enough to each drink a glass of wine furnished by their friends. In order to make sure that no attempt was made to forestall the results of the duel by poisoning the wine in either cup, they developed the habit of pouring part of the contents of each glass into the other, so that if either contestant was poisoned the other would be too.

This habit has continued up to the present time, although there is no thought given now to the danger of poison, and in the present day the ceremony of actually pouring the drink from one glass to another has been omitted, merely the motion, as if to touch the glasses, sufficing as an expression of friendliness and good will.

Touching glasses together in drinking, preparatory to a confidential talk, has come to be nicknamed “hob-nobbing” because of the equipment incidental to that action years ago. A “hob” was the flat part of the open hearth where water and spirits were warmed; and the small table, at which people sat when so engaged, was called a “nob.”

Why are Windows Broken by Explosions?

When the large cannons in the forts on our coast are discharged during target practice, there are usually a lot of windows broken in the nearby houses. In Jersey City, N. J., several freight cars and boats loaded with dynamite and ammunition full of high explosives furnished the power for an explosion which, in July, 1916, broke considerably over a hundred thousand dollars worth of windows in the lower part of New York City.

The force of an explosion, whatever its source, throws back the air in huge waves, very much like the waves of the ocean, and whatever they come in contact with must have a sort of a tug-of-war with them, the weaker side being crumpled up and pushed back by the other. Broad expanses of glass, unprotected and without any support, except at the extreme edges, present an easy mark for air waves, therefore, and the amount of damage done to windows by explosions is usually only limited by the power of the explosives which produce the force of air waves.

The earth beneath, and the roof and walls of a building above, all receive the effects of these air waves in exactly the same way as do windows, and the resulting disaster is in direct proportion to their resisting capacity as against the pressure caused by the explosion. Many striking examples of the power of explosives have been accidentally furnished of late, in the course of making munitions for the European war.

What does the Expression “Showing the White Feather” Come From?

We say people “show the white feather” when they display cowardice, because a white feather in a bird marks a cross breed, and it is not found on a fighting game-cock.

The Story in Elevators and Escalators[15]

Going up and down stairs is a duty every man, woman and child finds it necessary to perform daily and in many cases hourly, and some means for doing this is necessary in every modern household. Even in the old-time one-story house, steps from the outside to the inside were usually necessary, and when the two or more storied houses came into use the stairway became an indispensable feature. In modern times the art of building has had such an upward trend that edifices looming far into the air, hotels, stores, apartment houses, office buildings, etc., have come into use, one notable specimen, the Woolworth building in New York, towering upwards to fifty-four stories in height. This upward tendency has rendered the elevator, or lifting apparatus, an indispensable necessity, alike for passengers and freight, and it has been installed abundantly in all our large cities.

The elevator is not exactly a new idea. Its pioneer form may be traced back to the Middle Ages, when heavy weights were lifted by aid of an apparatus worked by hand power. But it was not until well on into the nineteenth century that the steam-power elevator came into service. The first example is said to have been produced by Elisha Graves Otis, who applied steam power to an elevating machine in a little shop at Yonkers, on the banks of the Hudson, New York. A few years later, at the International Exhibition of 1853 in New York, he displayed the first elevator with a safety device to prevent the car from falling in case of a broken cable.

The elevator was then a novelty. It has long since grown into a necessity. It is to be seen in all hotels and high buildings, and the art of getting up stairs has in very many cases changed into that of being lifted up by a moving car in an enclosed shaft or cage. The steam elevator, at first used, has now in great measure been replaced by the electric elevator, the first moved by an electric motor being the Otis elevator installed in the Demarest Building, New York, in 1889. This is still in active use.

The first electric elevators were confined to the drum type of machine, these having a grooved drum around which the hoisting cables were wound, the drum being revolved through worm gearing by an electric motor. But the erection of buildings, ranging from 200 to 700 feet in height has put this type of traction out of business on account of the great size of drums required and the necessary slowness of motion. It has been replaced by the electric traction elevator. In this the hoisting cables from which the car is suspended have at the other end a counterweight and pass around driving sheaves in place of a drum. This, in its latest form known as the gearless traction elevator, does away with all intricate machinery, and yields a machine moving with equal speed whatever the height.

History tells us this form of elevator was used in monasteries for hoisting passengers and supplies.]

To obviate danger from accidents, safety devices are installed for gripping the rails in case of the car attaining excessive speed. Another feature of security is the oil cushion buffer. One of these is placed in the hoistway under the car and one under the counterweight, they being capable of bringing a car to rest from full speed without discomfort to those in the car. The oil in the buffer is driven by the impact of the car from one chamber of the buffer to another, but this is made to take place at a fixed rate of retardation, the oil acting as a liquid cushion which stops the car gradually and without shock.

To do business in the modern lofty building without the aid of elevators (or lifts, as they are called in England) is today out of the question, while the great grain-transporting edifices in cities in which our annual crops are lifted and lowered, are known by the specific name of elevators. There is, however, another means of getting up and down stairs which is coming somewhat rapidly into use and in which the old stairway is restored. It is one in which the stair itself does the moving instead of the passengers upon it. This new and interesting device is known as an escalator.

The Escalator.

The earliest way to get upward from the ground was that adopted by climbing animals in clambering up tree trunks, and by man himself in “shinning” up trees by aid of his arms and legs. This was followed by the plank leading from a lower to a higher level, by the ladder, and finally by the stairway. In our days the stairway has been put on a set of revolving wheels and moves upward itself, carrying its passengers with no need on their part to use their feet. This simple but effective device is known as the escalator.

It is a very useful contrivance for tired shoppers needing to make their way from floor to floor in the great department stores, for travelers on subway or elevated railways, for large mills, theaters, or other places where easy getting up and down stairs is necessary. The escalator is a simple device. No intricate machinery is needed. It is so arranged as to be always going, traveling upwards or downwards, and returning out of sight below. It has been called “an elevator with the doors always open.” It is capable of carrying all the passengers who can crowd upon it, stepping on or off at the bottom or top, it being estimated that more than 10,000 people an hour can be thus moved.

This elevator is used where the slower speeds are required as in department stores.]

This type of escalator makes use of hard wood cleats in place of steps.]

The Cleat Escalator.

In the original type of escalator the steps flatten out into a level platform at top and bottom, easy to step on and off, and divide into regular steps as they climb upward, passengers in a hurry being able to hasten their speed by walking at the same time that they are carried. Another type is that known as the cleat escalator. In this there are no steps, it being composed of hardwood cleats moving in longitudinal ridges and grooves, there being a handrail on either side moving at the same speed. The platform glides through the prongs of a comb at the lower level and journeys upward at a moderate speed. At the upper level it disappears through a similar comb and returns out of sight. The passengers slide off upon the prongs of the comb at the top and land without jar or shock. Both these types of escalators can be made to move up or down by aid of a swinging switch, or two of them can be placed side by side, one moving upward and the other downward.

The Moving Platform.

A device acting on the same principle is the moving platform, with the difference that this may be of indefinite length and act as a sort of railway for carrying passengers from place to place. The passenger steps from a sideway at rest to one in moderate motion, and from this to a second one moving more rapidly, and in this way can be carried horizontally at a fair rate of speed. On reaching his station he has but to step back on the slower platform and from this to the moveless sideway. The pioneer example of this contrivance was installed on a long pier leading into Lake Michigan at the Chicago Exposition of 1893, and plans for putting it into practical use in various cities have been entertained. None of these, however, have yet been put into effect. Certain drawbacks, possibly that of cost of installation and operation, has served as a hindrance.

For the quick and safe conveyance of heavy goods from upper to lower levels.]

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What Happens when Animals Hibernate?

We have all heard of certain animals sleeping through the long winter months and most of us have probably wondered what happens to them when they do this.

This hiding away for a long sleep, or hibernation, as it is called, commences when the food of the animal begins to get scarce, and the length and depth of the sleep depends on the habit and constitution of the animal.

Bats, bears, some animals of the rodent order, such as the porcupine, the dormouse, some squirrels, etc., all the animals belonging to the classes of _Amphibia_ and _Reptilia_, such as tortoises, lizards, snakes, frogs, etc., and many species of mollusks and insects, hibernate more or less completely, retiring to suitable places of concealment--the bat to dark caves, the hedgehog to fern-brakes, snakes to holes in trees, etc.

During hibernation there is a great decrease of heat in the bodies of the animals, the temperature sometimes sinking to 40° or even 20° F., or in general to a point a little above that of the surrounding atmosphere. The respiration as well as the pulsation of the heart is exceedingly slow, and the irritability of the animal often so low that in some cases it can be awakened only by strong electric shocks.

With frogs and amphibious reptiles the dormant state is very common, and if the temperature is kept low by artificial means they may remain dormant for years.

The term “æstivation” has been used to describe a similar condition into which certain animals, such as serpents and crocodiles, in tropical countries pass during the hottest months of the year.

How do Peanuts Get in the Ground?

Peanuts are really the seeds or pods of a plant belonging to the family called the earthnut in Great Britain, the nuts there being used chiefly to fatten swine. The peanut-stand so commonly seen on street corners here is kept well supplied by the extensive cultivation of peanuts in the United States, mainly in the South, and in several tropical countries.

As most people have discovered, the nuts have a much more agreeable taste after being roasted. They also yield an oil which is often used for olive oil, and very good “peanut butter” is now made by grinding them up and mixing them with oil.

The peanut plant, or groundnut as it is also called, has a hairy stem and the leaves usually grow in sets of two pairs each, on the extreme end of each little branch-stem. The pod or nut is situated at the end of a separate stalk, which is longer than the leaf-stems, this stalk having the peculiarity, after flowering, of bending down and pushing the fruit into the earth. After the peanuts have reached their full growth, they are dug up very much in the same way as potatoes, a machine potato digger now being extensively used for this purpose.

How did Your State Get Its Name?

Alabama is named after the Indian word which means “Here we rest;” Alaska comes from the Eskimo word “Alakshak” or “Alayeska” and means “The main land;” Arizona is the result of the Indian word “Arizonac,” meaning “small springs” or “few springs;” and Arkansas is sort of a mixture of the Indian “Kansas,” which means “smoky water,” and the French prefix “arc,” meaning “bow” or “bend.”

California comes from the Spanish words “Caliente Fornalla,” or “hot furnace;” Colorado, also from the Spanish “colored,” from the red color of the Colorado River; and Connecticut, in Indian, means “long river.”

Delaware was named after Lord De la Warr; Florida originated from the Spanish “Pascua de Flores,” which means “Feast of Flowers,” because it was discovered on Easter Day; Georgia was called after King George II of England; and Hawaii is a native name peculiar to the natives there, although Captain Cook called it part of the “Sandwich Islands” after Lord Sandwich.

Idaho is Indian, meaning “Gem of the Mountains;” Illinois is another mixture of Indian and French, the Indian word “illini” and the French suffix “ois” meaning “tribe of men;” and Indiana and Iowa are both plain Indian, the former standing for “Indians’ land,” and the latter, “beautiful land.”

Kansas and Kentucky are Indian, too, Kansas meaning “smoky water” and Kentucky “at the head of the river,” or “the dark and bloody ground;” and Louisiana is named after Louis XIV of France.

Maine and Maryland each come from abroad, Maine being called after the Province of the same name in France, and Maryland after Queen Henrietta Maria of England, consort of Charles I; while Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi and Missouri are all from the native Indian language, meaning, in the order in which they are given, “place of great hills,” “fish weir,” “sky-tinted water,” “great father of waters” and “muddy;” and Montana traces back to the Latin word “montanus,” meaning “mountainous.”

Nebraska is another Indian name, and means “water valley;” while Nevada is Spanish, meaning “snow covered;” New Hampshire and New Jersey are both from across the water, the former after Hampshire County in England, and New Jersey after the Island of Jersey at the time when Sir George Carteret was its Governor; New York and both North and South Carolina were also named after monarchs abroad, New York after the Duke of York in England, and the Carolinas after Charles IX of France; while North and South Dakota bring us back to the Indian language again, meaning “allies.”

Ohio and Oklahoma are both Indian, too, Ohio meaning “beautiful river,” and the latter, “Home of the red men;” while Oregon is from the Spanish word “oregano,” which stands for the wild marjoram, a plant abundant on the coast; Pennsylvania traces back to the Latin, meaning “Penn’s woody land;” the Philippine Islands come from the Spanish words “Islas Filipinas,” after King Philip; and Porto Rico is also Spanish, from “Puerto Rico,” meaning “rich port.”

Rhode Island is called after the Island of Rhodes; Tennessee, Texas and Utah are all Indian, Tennessee meaning “river with the great bend,” Texas coming from several different forms of very old Indian language, meaning “friends,” and Utah after the tribe by that name, also called the “Utes;” Vermont is from the French, meaning “green mountains,” and Virginia is called after Elizabeth, the “Virgin Queen” of England.

Washington gets its name from a good, straight American source--George Washington; West Virginia is so called because it was formerly the western part of Virginia; and Wisconsin and Wyoming are both Indian, the former meaning “gathering of the waters,” and the latter, “great plains.”

The Story of Coal Mining

An interesting story is told in an English book by Edward Cressy, of the great coal strike in 1912. Many factories and workshops had to close for want of fuel. A workman from one of these, on reaching home, purchased a sack of coal and set it up against the back door. Then he sat in the kitchen, in which there was no fire. From time to time, when he felt chilly he got up, flung the sack of coal across his shoulders and ran around the yard until he became warm. That was his way of saving fuel. He was only doing in his own fashion what all engineers and manufacturers are trying to do in other ways all the year round.

The extent to which all manufacture and transport, all industry there, was paralyzed during the strike, shows the complete dependence of modern life upon fuel. In spite of the fact that in Great Britain nearly 240,000,000 tons of coal are raised annually, a temporary stoppage of supply threw all the ordinary machinery of existence out of action and revealed the magnitude of the debt that the world owes to those who win precious stores of fuel from the depths of the earth.

Probably no industrial operation excites more widespread interest, when accorded publicity, than the mining of coal, and that because of the dangers which attend it. The annual list of victims buried beneath a falling roof, or mangled by runaway cars, causes little comment, but every now and then the world is startled by an appalling catastrophe in which hundreds of men lose their lives. From the early days when growing industry demanded more coal, inventors have been busy devising all sorts of safety appliances for the miner.

The original safety-lamp, with which practically everyone is familiar, is the parent of scores of others, each claiming to offer some special advantage. All sorts of mechanical devices to prevent overwinding--an accident which would fling the cage with its coal or human freight out of the pit mouth--have been invented, and every section of the work has been made as safe as human ingenuity and human skill have been able to make it. But the number of disastrous explosions has not been materially reduced.

Many varieties of coal give off a gas known as marsh-gas or fire-damp. This is inflammable and, when mixed with air, violently explosive. It is the presence of this gas that necessitates the safety-lamp. There are a few kinds of mines which evolve no gas, and in these naked lights are used. But all mines must be ventilated by forcing air through them with a fan, and this air must be in sufficient quantity to keep the percentage of gas below a dangerous standard. Most mines are examined at regular intervals by a “fireman” who can estimate approximately the percentage of gas present by the size of the faintly luminous “cap” which hovers above the flame of his lamp.

Explosions have occurred, however, in cases where it is extremely doubtful whether gas has been present in dangerous quantity, and attention has been drawn to the possible causes. Many varieties of coal produce a quantity of fine dust which settles in the roadways, on roof, and sides, and floor. For many years there has been a controversy as to the relative importance of gas and dust in producing explosions, and the question is still one which gives rise to a lively difference of opinion. But there is no doubt that a mixture of coal-dust and air is explosive, and that even if an explosion is started by gas the disturbance creates clouds of dust which gives rise to secondary explosions and spread the disaster over a wider field than was originally affected.

HANDLING COAL

Four-ton grab buckets operating on the four bridge-tramways pick up the coal from the hold of lake steamers and deposit it either on the dock or in cars. The four machines can be moved to any part of the dock to which steamers are moored and four ships can be unloaded rapidly at one time. The motive power is electricity.]

STORING COAL

A 480,000-ton anthracite coal storage plant. Coal cars are dumped into hoppers under the tracks and the coal carried to the top of the piles by conveyors. It is reloaded into cars by other conveyors operating at the base of each pile. This system has been of great value in preventing a shortage of coal during strikes.]

Consequently a plan has been evolved for the ventilating current to be reversed periodically, in order to remove dust which has settled on the side of timbering and crevices, and the roadways to be watered in order to allay the dust. A plan has also been tried of spreading fine stone-dust in the roadways. This mixes with the coal-dust and renders it less inflammable.

Unfortunately the disastrous effects of an explosion do not end with the explosion itself. The main products of combustion, whether of fire-damp or coal-dust, are carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. The latter causes suffocation and the former is a dangerous poison. It is the dreaded “after-damp” of the miner. Those who survive an explosion are therefore in danger of suffocation or poisoning, and it becomes imperative to restore the circulation of the air with the least possible delay. For even if the fan has escaped injury, fallen portions of the roof may have choked up some of the roadways, or the explosion may have torn down doorways and provided a short cut for the air. But if the atmosphere is dangerous for men in the pit at the time, it is equally dangerous for others to go down and effect repairs or render first aid.

The work of the rescue party is therefore a labor of desperate heroism and often attended by additional loss of life. It has recently been found possible to reduce the dangers of after-damp by providing rescue parties with respirators fitting over the mouth and nose, and supplied with oxygen from two steel bottles of the compressed gas strapped across the back. An effective apparatus of this kind, such as has been adopted by the United States Government for the use of the Bureau of Mines Rescue Crew, is shown in the accompanying illustration. The bag in front is known as a “breathing bag” and has separate compartments for the inhaling and exhaling, the tube at the right leading to the former and that at the left to the exhaling compartment, which usually contains sticks of caustic soda to absorb the carbon dioxide exhaled by the wearer.

Coal is largely formed from vast masses of vegetable matter deposited through the luxuriant growth of plants in former epochs of the earth’s history. In the varieties of coal in common use the combined effects of pressure, heat and chemical action upon the substance have left few traces of its vegetable origin; but in the sandstones, clays and shales accompanying the coal the plants to which it principally owes its origin are presented in a fossil state in great profusion and frequently with their structure so distinctly retained, although replaced by mineral substances, as to enable the microscopist to determine their botanical affinities with existing species. Trees of considerable magnitude have also been brought to light.

_a_, sandstones.
_b_, shales.
_c_, coal-seams.
_d_, under-clays or soils.]

The animal remains found in the coal-measures indicate that some of the rocks have been deposited in fresh water, probably in lakes, while others are obviously of estuarine origin, or have been deposited at the mouths of rivers alternately occupied by fresh and salt water. The great system of strata in which coal is chiefly found is known as the carboniferous.

Upper view, Bureau of Mines Rescue Crew in safety helmets, ready to enter a gas-filled mine. Lower view, resuscitating a victim overcome by gas by means of the oxygen reviving apparatus.]

Enormous quantities of coal are lost at the mines in coal dust. By adding a binding material, such as pitch, and pressing the mixture into briquettes or small bricks, an excellent fuel is made.]

The mine rescue crew is using the canary-bird test for poisonous gas. The bird succumbs to gas earlier than a man and thus indicates a dangerous condition of the atmosphere. The canary is revived by oxygen and the crew puts on safety helmets before proceeding.]

There are many varieties of coal, varying considerably in their composition, as anthracite, nearly pure carbon, and burning with little flame, much used for furnaces and malt kilns; bituminous, a softer and more free-burning variety; and cannel or “gas-coal,” which burns readily like a candle, and is much used in gasmaking. The terms semi-anthracite, semi-bituminous, coking coal, splint coal, etc., are also applied according to peculiarities.

All varieties agree in containing from 60 to over 90 per cent of carbon, the other elements being chiefly oxygen and hydrogen, and frequently a small portion of nitrogen. Lignite or brown coal may contain only 50 per cent of carbon. For manufacturing purposes coals are generally considered to consist of two parts, the volatile or bituminous portion, which yields the gas used for lighting, and the substance, comparatively fixed, usually known as coke, which is obtained by heating the coals in ovens or other close arrangements.

About 260,000,000 tons of coal are annually mined in Britain, the value being over $300,000,000. Large quantities are exported. The British coal-fields, though comparatively extensive (covering about 9,000 square miles), are far surpassed by those of several other countries, as the United States and China, the former having coal-fields estimated to cover about 451,000 square miles; the latter over 200,000 square miles. Britain no longer mines the largest quantity, having been far surpassed by the United States. Other countries in which coal is worked are Belgium, France, Germany, Russia, India, New South Wales and Canada. China has hitherto mined only on a small scale.

The annual production of anthracite coal in Pennsylvania is more than 86,000,000 tons of 2,240 pounds, valued at the mines at $198,000,000. In 1910 there were produced of bituminous coal 388,222,868 tons, valued at $463,654,776; amount of coke manufactured, 37,000,000 tons. This was distributed widely over the country, the greatest producers, after Pennsylvania, being Illinois, West Virginia, Ohio, Alabama and Colorado.

Recently a very large output of coal has been discovered in Alaska, the value of which is as yet undetermined, though it is believed to hold a vast quantity of coal. The value of the western coal-fields also is far from known, and since 1906 very extensive tracts of coal-bearing lands have been withdrawn from settlement, principally in Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico, their beds being largely of lignite. These cover about 50,000,000 acres, and, with those of Alaska, are held by the government as national assets. The mines of Alaska are claimed to be exceedingly rich, both in bituminous and anthracite coal, the beds examined being estimated to contain 15,000,000,000 tons, while there are large districts unexamined. They have not yet been worked, the government keeping them back for public ownership.

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How can We Hear through the Walls of a Room?

We are able to hear easily through the walls of many rooms because the material used in those walls are good conductors of sound. We know that some things are better conductors of heat than others, and just in that same way, some things conduct sound better than others. Wood has been shown to be an even better conductor of sound than air. Most of us have stood at the foot of an overhead trolley pole to see if we could hear a car coming, and we know that the reason we did this was because we could hear the wire humming, when we put our ears against the pole, even though we could not hear any sound in the air.

When we are in a room that has wooden walls we can hear sounds in the next room very plainly, not because the wall is thin, but because the wood in the wall is a good conductor of sound. Other walls made of different kinds of material, are not as good conductors of sound. While you may hear through them, you cannot hear as plainly as you can through a wooden wall.

What is a Diesel Engine Like?

The Diesel engine has caused a great deal of comment of late years because of the spectacular uses to which it has been successfully applied. A specially constructed Diesel engine was probably the chief aid in the accomplishment of the first submarine trans-Atlantic voyage by the German submarine “Deutschland.”

It is an oil engine which was invented by Rudolph Diesel in 1893.

The engine operates at compression pressures very much higher than those used in any other internal combustion engines, and it dispenses with the usual igniting devices by rendering the air charge incandescent by compression.

The efficiency of the Diesel engine is high, and it can use low grades of fuel, but it has the disadvantage of greater weight per horse-power than other engines.

It has found increasing favor for use in marine propulsion, and in 1913 was adapted to high-speed railway service, and put into use in Germany.

What does the Sheep-Grower Get for the Wool in a Suit of Clothes?

A man’s ordinary three-piece fall suit has about nine pounds of wool in it. Such a suit might cost somewhere between twenty and forty dollars, depending on whether it was bought ready made or whether it was made to order. If the price was questioned, the retailer would probably explain that it was all wool and that the wool cost was the reason it was expensive, and still the sheep-man who raised the wool only received an average of about eighteen cents a pound, or $1.62, for all the wool used on the suit.

Of course, the largest part of the cost of a suit of clothes is really accounted for by the cost of transportation, weaving, tailoring and selling, but we must all agree that the sheep-man who tends the flock all winter and cuts the wool in the spring is not to blame for high prices.

The Story in a Silver Teaspoon[16]

The spoon is older than history. There is, perhaps, no article or utensil of common use today that can trace an earlier origin. The evolution and development of the spoon into the graceful and beautiful forms in use on our tables is fascinating and instructive.

Primitive men of the Stone Age used an implement that might by courtesy be called a spoon. From then on down through the Egyptian, Greek and Roman civilizations it can be clearly traced in varying forms and substances--wood, shell, flint, bone, ivory, bronze and the precious metals, gold and silver.

A witty Frenchman has said that spoons, if not as old as the world, are certainly as old as soup.

In the Bible is the first recorded mention of the use of spoons made of precious metal. This reference is the twenty-fifth chapter of the Book of Exodus, wherein the Lord commanded Moses to make golden spoons for the Tabernacle.

Excavations in Egypt have brought to light early examples of spoons of various materials, and it is certain that the early Greeks and Romans used gold and silver spoons, both at the table and in the Temple. Early specimens of spoons made of wood, ivory, bronze, silver and gold are preserved in the museums of Europe and Egypt.

During the early Christian and medieval eras spoons were in common use. Saxon and Early English examples are to be seen in the English museums today.

The medieval spoon was of silver, horn or wood, etc. On the Continent, silver spoons were made much earlier than in England. In Italy they were in use probably long before 1000 A. D.

During the Tudor and Stuart reigns a fashionable gift at christenings was the apostle, so called because at the end of the handle was the figure of an apostle. Sometimes a thirteenth spoon was added, called the “Master” spoon, because it bore the figure of Christ. A complete set was a very valuable gift, and could only be afforded by the rich.

Folks of limited means used copper, pewter, latten or alchemy spoons; the latter two materials being somewhat like brass, examples of which are sometimes found in this country in the graves of Indians of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, showing their intercourse with early English traders.

At this period the stems were hexagonal, ending in an acorn, a bird or a ball, while the bowls were fig shape. Later the stems were baluster shape with a seal top, and at the time of the Commonwealth the stem became flat and perfectly plain. These latter are called “Puritan” spoons.

Naturally, the early New England colonists brought with them the spoons they had used at home, and the early Colonial silversmiths followed closely the designs which they found at hand or which were later imported from England. In fact, within a few years after a certain type had become popular in the mother country, it was adopted in this country as the fashionable style. It is, therefore, easy to date, approximately, an American-made spoon, because it follows so closely in style the dated or hall-marked English spoon.

During the last quarter of the seventeenth century, both in England and America, spoons were generally of a style now known as rat-tail. From the end of the handle, down the back of the bowl to about the middle, ran a ridge shaped like a rat-tail. This is sometimes thought to have been an attempt to strengthen the spoon, but its use must have been purely ornamental, for it adds little strength to these strongly made spoons. Sometimes the rat-tail was shaped like a long V and grooved, while on each side were elaborate scrolls. The bowl was perfectly oval in shape, while the end of the handle was notched or trifid.

This style of spoon was continued, with modifications, through the first third of the eighteenth century. Then the bowl became ovoid, or egg-shaped, and the end of the handle was rounded, without the notch.

The rat-tail was gradually replaced by what is known as the drop, or double drop, frequently terminating in a conventionalized flower or shell, or anthemion, while down the front of the handle ran a rib.

Later, the bowl became more pointed, the drop was replaced by a tongue, and the handle, after 1760, instead of slightly curving to the front at the end, reversed the position. Somewhat later, the handle became pointed, and was engraved with bright, cut ornaments and a cartouch at the end in which were engraved the initials of the owner.

During the first ten years of the nineteenth century a popular style was the so-called coffin-shaped handle, succeeded, probably about 1810, by a handle with a shoulder just above the junction with the bowl, while the end became fiddle-shaped or of a style now known as tipped, shapes produced to this day.

Until about 1770, spoons were of three sizes: the teaspoon, as small as an after-dinner coffee spoon; the porringer spoon, a little smaller than our present dessert size; and the tablespoon, with a handle somewhat shorter than that of today.

One found in an Indian grave at Deerfield, Mass., and the other in an Indian grave at Hadley, Mass. Period of about 1660. Actual size, 6 inches and 6-1/4 inches.]

So few silver forks have been found in collections of old silver that it forces the belief that they were generally made of steel, with bone handles. There seems no reason why, if in general use, silver forks should not now be as common as spoons.

In the great silver exhibition recently held in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, of more than one thousand pieces, there were only two forks to be found.

Great skill was developed by the early silversmiths of England and America. The purity and gracefulness of design in many cases remain as standards for our best craftsmen today. It is, however, erroneous to suppose that all of the ornamentation was done by hand.

Ornaments on the back of spoon bowls and handles were impressed by dies forced together by drop presses or under screw pressure. This is absolutely proven by the exact duplication of the pattern on sets of spoons. Accurate measurements show that these ornaments were not handwork, for there is not the slightest deviation in dimensions.

But, however beautiful the silver of our forbears and however valuable now, from a historic standpoint, there are few of us who, if given the choice, would not decide in favor of the product of the twentieth century silversmith, who brings to his creations all of the good of the old masters, and who has the facilities for turning out work more perfect in line and detail and uniformity than was ever dreamed of by the silver worker of old.

The spoon in the center is the earliest of that type, made about 1690. The other dates about 1695.]

We admire the beautiful silverware that we see in the shop windows, we derive satisfaction and pleasure from the daily use of silver on our tables, but few people have any understanding how silver plate is made; and there is, perhaps, still less knowledge of its interesting history.

The combining of two separate metals--that is, the plating of a base metal with a finer one--was, until the eighteenth century, a lost art of the ancients.

The application of one metal upon another was practiced by the Assyrians, who overlapped iron with bronze; copper implements and ornaments coated with silver have been found at Herculaneum, while many ancient Roman specimens of harness and armor are found to be ornamented with silver on copper. The Aztecs of Mexico and the Incas of Peru used the process of fixing two metals together by the action of heat, before making up. The method was also known to the old Celts, as shown by specimens found in Iceland. It seems, however, to have been a lost art in Europe, probably because up to the thirteenth century the Church had control of the arts and crafts in England, and the finer metal work was used only for church vessels, the household implements being very simple and mostly of wood and cheap metal.

Horace Walpole, writing in 1760, states: “I passed through Sheffield, a business town in a charming situation, with 22,000 inhabitants, and they remit £11,000 a week to London. One man there has discovered the art of plating copper with silver.”

The inventor to whom the quotation refers was Thomas Bolsover, a skilled silversmith, who, in the year 1742, it is traditionally reported, while repairing a thin layer of silver on the copper handle of a knife, evolved the idea of combining copper with silver in layers ready for manufacture into any desired form.

A shape peculiar to America. This type common from 1800 to 1815. Reductions about one-half.]

Bolsover himself apparently did not appreciate the importance of this invention, and it remained for Joseph Hancock, one of his apprentices, to develop the idea to a commercial success. He vigorously encouraged the trade in Sheffield, Birmingham and other manufacturing centers, and finally constructed a rolling-mill and made his fortune by supplying the plate to the silversmiths.

The earlier specimens of this Sheffield plate, as it came to be known, had the silver on one side of the copper only, but later attempts were made to improve the appearance of finer pieces by covering the underside of the copper with tin.

Crude as this idea and the old methods of manufacture may seem, compared with modern processes, this old plate found a ready sale. It replaced in many households pewter ware which, until the introduction of Sheffield plate, was the best substitute for sterling silver. It became fashionable for everyday use by the nobility and wealthier families, who put aside their solid silverware to be used on state occasions only. The name “plate,” which is from the Spanish word _platte_, came to be used generally to designate the imitation of solid silver.

This plate, being such a close imitation of solid silver, was not permitted by the laws of England to bear any stamp whatever prior to 1773, when the town of Sheffield was specially privileged to put upon its product the marks of the makers. These marks, however, were not to bear any resemblance of the lion or leopard’s head, these being the hall-marks of England.

It was not until 1785 that this privilege was extended to the town of Birmingham and other manufacturing centers.

It is curious to note that this law against the imitation of silver, which really dated from the fifteenth century, made a special exception to articles made for the Church.

Sometimes this old Sheffield plate, in addition to bearing the maker’s name, bore the name of the lord or earl for whom it was made, and today these old pieces are more highly valued by their owners than silver which is intrinsically more valuable.

Much of the charm of old plate was in its beauty of form and design, for the work attracted the best of English artisans. It would appear, too, that they were fairly well paid for their labor, as Pepys, in his “Diary,” refers to a present made him of a pair of flagons which cost £100. “They are said to be worth five shillings, some say ten shillings, an ounce for the fashion.”

The first notable improvement over the Sheffield work came toward the middle of the nineteenth century, when electro-silver plating was first practiced and, in 1847, commercially perfected, by Rogers Brothers of Hartford, Conn.

The marvelous force of electricity was brought to bear on the making of silver-plated knives, forks, spoons, etc., as well as hollow-ware articles, such as coffee and tea pots, water pitchers, sugar bowls and platters. Instead of these articles being made of sheets of rolled copper and silver, a silver plate of any desired thickness is applied to the base metal by electricity.

This quick and less expensive method of manufacture rendered silver plate available to all classes, and the Sheffield plate was quickly superseded, the old method of manufacture becoming obsolete.

While the process of manufacture was cheapened, the newer craftsmen wisely held to the art standards of the old masters. With the new process came the perfection of modern construction, and the cost is so much less than in the old days that a perfect table service of authentic design, of quality beyond question and guaranteed in every respect, is within the reach of any well-to-do family. Many of the old family pieces of Sheffield have found their way into the melting pot in exchange for the modern electro-plated silverware.

The making of silver-plated flatware is an interesting process and one that requires a great amount of skill and care. The finished teaspoon, as it lies in the show-case or chest, is the result of over thirty distinct operations, while a plain silver-plated steel knife has passed through thirty-six stages in its evolution from the bit of steel rod, in which shape it begins its journey. Some of the more important steps in the making of a spoon are briefly described below:

The Blank.

The metal underlying the silver plate of the best plated teaspoons is of nickel silver, a trade name for a metal composed of nickel, copper and zinc. This metal is procured in sheet form of varying lengths. From this sheet is cut a blank, which bears little resemblance to a spoon, being about half the length of the finished article and very much wider.

Squeezed.

The blank is then “squeezed,” which gives to the part that is to become the handle a little more of the appearance that it will have later.

Rolling.

This “squeezed” blank is then passed through a series of steel rolls, giving length to the handle and width to the bowl, and distributing the metal according to the correct thickness--that is, the bowl will be thin and the shank thick.

Clipping.

The next process is termed “clipping,” the spoon being cut out from the blank in the correct outline of the pattern.

Annealing.

The process of rolling the metal has so compressed the latter that it cannot be readily worked. It is necessary, therefore, that the spoon be annealed--that is, the shaped blanks are placed in an oven and brought to a red heat, which renders them malleable.

The Evolution of a Spoon.

From the crude blank of nickel silver to the finished spoon, there are over thirty distinct operations necessary, a few of the more important stages being illustrated. When the spoon emerges from the plating solution (see No. 8), it is perfectly white and looks as if it had been treated with a heavy coat of enamel. It is then scratch-brushed, burnished and, in some patterns, the handle is greyed. After this, the spoon is buffed and finished.

Every operation is performed with the utmost care, and not until the piece is actually finished can this vigilance be relaxed, as it is the final processes that make the plating of pure silver an actual part of the spoon and insure its wearing qualities.

_Striking and Bowling._--The pattern is then stamped on the handle and the bowl is shaped.

_Trimming, etc._--After the pattern and the bowl have been struck, there is usually a small burr left where the metal has oozed out between the dies. This is removed by trimming. The trademark is then stamped on the back of the handle.

_Polishing._--The goods are put through various operations of polishing until they are brought to a high finish.

_Plating._--The articles to be plated are suspended in a frame in the silver solution. This frame is connected with the negative pole of a magneto-electro machine, while the silver is suspended in the solution from bars and connected with the positive or opposite pole of the machine, thereby forming a circuit for the electricity through the solution.

A patent automatic scale, designed to weigh the silver while depositing, is balanced to the exact weight of silver to be deposited on the article. The circuit is completed by turning a switch and the plating begins.

As soon as the articles receive the proper weight of silver, the scale beam rises, thus making a separate connection with the electro-magnet, which springs the switch, breaking the electric current and stopping the plating at the same instant, also ringing an alarm bell to notify the workman that the articles have received the proper weight of silver.

_Quality._--Standard silver-plated spoons are made in two grades of plate--triple and quintuple. The former, however, is the one generally used and answers all ordinary requirements. The quintuple grade is designed more particularly for hotels, restaurants, clubs and other institutions where the wear is especially severe.

The Evolution of a Knife.

There are thirty-six stages in the evolution of a plain steel knife. At one end of the journey we see the cylindrical bar of steel, black and unlovely; at the other, the silver-plated knife, light, well-balanced and heavily plated with pure silver. In the case of other than plain knives, the work involves also the stamping of the pattern.

_Double Burnishing._--The thickness of the silver deposited, however, is not the only requisite to insure quality. The plating must be hard as well as thick. This is accomplished by means of a double-burnishing process after the article is plated and before it receives its final buffed finish.

The first burnishing is on machines and this is followed by hand burnishing. This process produces a hard plate.

No matter how heavy the plate, if it is not properly burnished or hardened after plating, the article will not give satisfaction in long wear. When manufacturers treat their wares to as little burnishing as possible, practically relying upon the buff alone for their finish after plating, the result is most unsatisfactory. The buff finish looks all right, but it does not harden the silver sufficiently and in consequence the latter does not wear well. When the article comes out of the plating bath the silver deposited is in a comparatively porous and “fluffy” state. The buffing will hit the high spots but the proper process turns the minute edges, closes the pores and makes the silver hard and compact, vastly increasing the wearing quality.

The silver thus deposited, is absolutely pure--finer, in fact, than any articles of sterling silver. Sterling is but .925 fine, requiring an alloy to stiffen it, whereas silver for plating can be used .999 fine.